The first five teams (Mitchelton 4th, Sunweb 5th) are in a range of a dozen seconds at the end of this exercise that had not been contested in the Tour since 2015. BMC was then imposed before Sky for 1 second. Van Avermaet, already present in the American group, has since won the Olympic title on the road in Rio. He also wore the yellow jersey of the Tour 2016 and won several classics, including Paris-Roubaix.

For the general classification, Froome lost time, a trifle of 4 seconds, only on Porte. On the other hand, he has won over all the others but in varying proportions.

“It’s true to what was expected,” commented Bardet, whose two teammates (Dillier, Gallopin) were diminished by falls. “I am relieved . ” “We can be satisfied,” reacted Froome, who was very comfortable in the exercise. But the quadruple winner of the Tour had to once again listen to jeers and whistles along his route.

Tuesday, the sprinters have a new opportunity in the 4th stage, 195 kilometers long between La Baule (Loire-Atlantique) and Sarzeau (Morbihan). With a very long straight line of 4 kilometers to finish.